Sony Corporation has issued an official news release in regards to the status of their manufacturing companies in Japan after the Kumamoto earthquakes. Having confirmed the safety of their employees in the affected regions, Sony has listed out a few details of the manufacturing sites that have been impacted as result of the earthquake.

Sony’s semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, which primarily manufactures image sensors for cameras, had seen its production halted after the earthquake and has yet to be started again. According to Sony, damage to the site is currently being evaluated, but the timeframe for resuming has yet to be confirmed. Sony’s main facility for smartphone image sensors in Nagasaki and its sister-site, Oita Technology Center, had its operations suspended but production had resumed on April 17th.

Currently there is no news as to how or if this will affect Apple’s current or future product line-up, specifically the dual-camera rumored to be integrated into the iPhone 7. TSMC, one of Apple’s chipmakers, was also affected by earthquakes back in February. Seeing a long-term loss impact of around less than 1% for 2016 production, TSMC remained confident they would be able to hit revenue targets. That earthquake which was responsible for the deaths of 116, and injuring countless others, also saw major damages to multiple other manufacturing plants around Taiwan.

Image Credit: REUTERS/Yuya Shino

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, earthquake, Kumamoto, Sony

The LinkedIn profile of the typical student may look a little empty at this stage in their career, but the company believes its network can still be useful. It’s today launching an iPhone app to help students identify companies and job titles that might be suitable for them, as well as pointing to live job postings that may be of interest.

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Filed under: Apps Tagged: LinkedIn, LinkedIn app, LinkedIn student app, Tinder

Taylor Swift and Apple Music have today launched another commercial on Twitter promoting Apple’s $9.99 streaming music service, featuring song ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World. It is unclear if the minute-long ad will be exclusive to online promotional channels or also be shown on TV.

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Filed under: Apple Music, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: ad, Apple Music, commercial, iOS, Taylor Swift

German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine is reporting that Apple may be planning to use Austrian-based automotive contract manufacturer Magna to manufacture the Apple Car. The publication also says that Apple has created a ‘secret lab’ in Berlin where it has head-hunted a small cross-disciplinary team of 15-20 upcoming engineers from a number of German car companies.

Magna specialises in making limited-edition models for major car manufacturers, having made the Mini Paceman and Clubman for BMW, as well as the BMW X3. It is expected to make over 100,000 vehicles for BMW over the next 6-7 years …

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Filed under: Apple Car Tagged: Apple Car, Apple Car manufacturer, Magna, Magna International

Apple may take iOS security so seriously that it’s willing to do battle with the FBI over it, but German hackers have demonstrated that even iPhones are susceptible to a mobile network vulnerability that requires nothing more than knowing your phone number. Armed with just that, hackers can listen to your calls, read your texts and track your position.

60 Minutes invited the hackers to prove their claims by giving a brand new iPhone to Congressman Ted Lieu – who agreed to participate in the test – and telling the hackers nothing more than the phone number. The hackers later replayed recordings they’d made of calls made on that iPhone …

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Filed under: iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: 60 Minutes, CBS, iPhone hack, Karsten Nohl, Signaling System Seven, Signaling System Seven hack, SS7, SS7 hack

Rumors of Apple’s entrance into the video streaming arena have been swirling for a couple of years now, with Apple wanting to launch a skinny bundle streaming internet cable TV service, however news on the progress of this project has died down in 2016. It is unclear if it is still on the cards, various outlets reports talked had stalled with the television networks. However, Amazon and Netflix continue to battle it out.

Today, just as Netflix customers are forcibly moved to more expensive monthly plans, Amazon has announced it will offer its streaming video service as a standalone monthly subscription for the first time. Priced at $8.99/per month, the plan is a dollar cheaper than Netflix’s most popular offering. Until today, the only way to get Amazon Instant Video through a $99/year Amazon Prime subscription, bundling video, 2-day shipping and other perks into one membership.

Sadly, there was no word on the status of an Amazon Apple TV app …

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Amazon, Apple, Apple TV, iOS, Netflix, Streaming Video, video

In a new report by KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo, the reliable Apple analyst claims that the iPhone will be seeing a major redesign in 2017, dropping the iconic aluminum casing for an all-glass enclosure with AMOLED screen. This follows on from another of Kuo’s reports in late March, where he first suggested Apple will return to an iPhone design akin to the iPhone 4. It does not seem like the iPhone 7 for 2016 will be seeing such a major overhaul, breaking Apple’s tick-tock pattern of a significant chassis redesign every other generation.

Kuo believes that Apple will be moving to an all-glass enclosure, dropping aluminum completely as it will no longer appear modern or fresh in 2017. Apple’s smartphone competitors are also adopting aluminum designs in droves, making it more likely Apple will want to differentiate with entirely new materials.

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, iOS, iPhone 2017, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, rumors

Renaming multiple files can be a tedious process when doing so manually, but the Finder in OS X can make it easier to rename a batch of files at once on your Mac. Instead of relying on a third party app, use this handy tip to quickly rename a batch of files without breaking a sweat. more…

Filed under:
How-To, iOS Devices, Mac Tagged: batch editing, Finder, how to, Mac, OS X, rename, Tips and Tricks, tutorial, video

In this week’s top stories, attention turned from the iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7 to what’s coming next from Apple, as stories surrounding the iPhone 7 and the future of Apple’s MacBook lineup rounded out the most shared articles of the week. But not far behind was Zac’s review of the iPhone SE followed by analysis of the new iPad Pro’s 9.7-inch display showing record mobile display performance and possible hints at what’s to come from iPhone 7 this fall.

As always, we have the easy links to those stories and the rest of this week’s most shared news and videos below:

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Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Car, iPad Pro, iPhone 7, iPhone SE, MacBook, Screens 4, top stories

To help raise money for the relocation of the prestigious London Design Museum, Apple has submitted a very special lot to be sold at auction. Jony Ive has designed a one-of-a-kind iPad Pro and set of accessories, labelled ‘Edition 1 of 1’. The lot includes a 12.9 inch iPad Pro with a custom yellow-gold anodised finish, a blue leather Smart Cover and an Apple Pencil case cover — an accessory that Apple doesn’t sell at all today. It’s a small carry case for the Pencil, made with orange Italian calf leather. To denote the exclusivity of the products, an ‘Edition 1 of 1’ label has been engraved into the iPad Pro and underside of the Smart Cover.

Given its special edition nature, the auction is expected to sell for a tidy premium over Apple’s normal iPad Pro pricing …

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple design, Apple Pencil, exclusive, iOS, iPad, iPad Pro, special